Introducing Nancy W.

As a mom who had to make a heartbreaking choice back in 1991, as well as a medical social worker with a specialty in maternal-child social work,
a pediatric physical therapist, a hospital chaplain, a childbirth instructor, as well as a hospice founder, I have a unique opportunity to share
with you at this time of crisis in your life.

I am in my fifties now. I have degrees in both physical therapy and social work. When I was in my twenties, my first husband died from malignant
melanoma. After his death, I became very involved with the early Hospice movement in America. I remarried in my thirties and was blessed with the
births of two healthy children, both now in college. When they were little, I was certified as both a childbirth educator and lactation specialist.
(Both ends of the spectrum of life.)

I wrote The Long Grief Post for AHC over several years ago, in order to share what I
have learned, personally, as well as professionally, from my own experiences with grief over the last 24 years.

In my forties, I became pregnant, to my delight, and to the delight of my family. Sadly, this midlife pregnancy ended in miscarriage. Then, with
my biological clock ticking loudly, we decided to try again, for one more baby. At this point, however, I was faced with waning fertility. After
months of trying without sucess, we tried fertility drugs. And, to our delight, found I was pregnant with twins. Within the first trimester, however,
one little heart stopped beating. We named our miscarried babies Brewster and Cary.

The remaining twin lived on, and, in time, I began to feel her, fluttering inside of me. But, instead of the fluttering growing stronger, her
kicks seemed to diminish wth each day. Having never had or wanted prenatal testing before, I had not considered it this time, either. Until one day,
when I had a strong intuition that our remaining baby had Down syndrome. So, we went for the amniocentesis. On the ultrasound, we saw our little
girl and named her Katie. But the test proved my intuitions right. Katie did have Trisomy 21.

Our world was turned upside down. We spoke with doctors. We spoke with parents of children with T-21. We researched the literature from medical
to ethical. We talked with our families. Our friends. We agonized and grieved every waking moment we had. And then, for our own reasons, we made
our heartbreaking choice.

That was 10 years ago. We have healed our grief. I came to AHC over several years ago to be here for all of you. To offer hope. To offer help.
The Long Grief Post, (and it is long!) as it has come to be called, was the result of the
need I saw to educate other parents about the grief process after termination. I have reposted it over and over again, and I get regular requests
for it online.

AHC decided to make it part of this Web site, so that it will be readily available to anyone who could benefit from it. I suggest you make a copy
of this long post and take time to read and digest all that it says. Share it with the significant people in your life so that they understand more
about the process of grief after termination. I strongly urge couples to take time to read this post together and discuss it, as this grieving
process strains even the best of relationships.